Literary Realism

In a world where aesthetics is simply an expression of the human soul and there is no differentiation between internal and external beauty, a kindhearted businessman struggling over a difficult breakup decides to join a unique beauty pageant, which will grant the beauty king the prize of a lifetime—tickets to the Beatles’ reunion concert. This is the story of a man who embarks on an adventure—a mental and emotional journey in pursuit of the concept of internal beauty, which will change the way he sees the world and his place in it forever.

Mi era stata chiesta una scelta dei racconti contenuti nei miei due volumi "Le Cosmicomiche" e "Ti con zero". Li organizzai in un libro costruito con un ciclo di storie sulla Luna, uno sulla Terra, uno su Sole Stelle Galassie, uno sull'Evoluzione, uno sullo Spazio e sul Tempo. Mi accorsi che il libro che avevo messo insieme, e che s'intitolò "La memoria del mondo", più che una rielaborazione di cose già pubblicate per avvicinare un pubblico di lettori nuovi, era il vero libro che avevo voluto scrivere fin da principio, o almeno era ciò che più vi si avvicinava.

Con il suo caratteristico stile ironico e surreale, ricco di riferimenti colti e soluzioni linguistiche originali, Roberto Barbolini torna con una nuova raccolta di racconti che esplorano il tragicomico intreccio fra le "basse voglie" del corpo e il richiamo insopprimibile del sacro nell’epoca della sua impossibilità.

Set against the tropics and megacities of the Americas, Maria, Maria takes inspiration from wild creatures, tarot, and the porous borders between life and death. Motivated by love and its inverse, grief, the characters who inhabit these stories negotiate boldly with nature to cast their desired ends. Brimming with sharp wit and ferocious female intuition, these stories bubble over into the titular novella, "Maria, Maria"—a family drama set in a reimagined California rainforest that explores the legacies of three Marias, and possibly all Marias.

Anaïs Echeverría left Peru, the country where she grew up, many years ago. She has built a new life for herself in London: engaged and pregnant, she dares to believe that she has left the ghosts of her family's past behind. But now she must return to Lima to sell her ancestral home, the notorious yellow house that looms over the sprawling city below. Concealed within its walls are spectres from the past that demand her attention, remnants of the injustices on which both her country and her house were built.

Evie has been raised in the heart of Aboriginal Redfern, by a proud trailblazing Wiradjuri family. She remembers so much about the previous world – the Dreamtime, the ancestors, and the knowing – but she also harbours a dark pain that is becoming almost too much to bear. And then Evie meets James, a young man radiating pure love who fills her life with light. On the cusp of adulthood, with their whole lives ahead of them, they travel to Evie’s beloved country, the central west of New South Wales and the Riverina regions.

Parents comblés à qui tout sourit, le ciel d'Éric et Barbara s'assombrit le jour où un drame emporte leur univers et fait basculer leur vie. Lorsqu'arrive le temps de la reconstruction, ils sont alors confrontés au comportement étrange de l'un de leurs fils. Pour tenter de le comprendre, ils vont s'efforcer de regarder le monde à travers ses yeux d'enfant et se lancent dès lors dans des recherches qui ne cesseront de les surprendre autant que les bouleverser. Par amour pour leur petit garçon, ils abandonneront peu à peu leurs repères.

El intenso relato del regreso clandestino del director de cine Miguel Littín a Chile, su patria.

Just Eleven Days tells the story of an adult yoga student who decides to enter an 11-day, silent, yoga retreat in an old inner city convent. But she only makes it half way through the retreat when personal struggles and an external incident which cannot be explained render her fearful, until she plucks up the courage to flee. And even then, there is evidence of an unresolved issue.... The story is enhanced with atmospheric sound effects.

El celebrado libro de Cristina García cuenta la sobrecogedora y agridulce historia de una familia que experimenta la revolución de un país y las revelaciones que ello conlleva. La vidas de Celia del Pino y de su esposo, sus hijas y nietas reflejan el realismo mágico de Cuba, un paisaje de belleza y miseria, idealismo y corrupción. Soñar en cubano es “una obra que posee tanto la intimidad de un relato de Chejov como la magia alucinatoria de una novela de García Márquez” (The New York Times).

Dali-like melting clocks and plans to build a statue and gain a damehood are intermingled in a plot which explores difference, persistence, and diversity. It has a humorous tone whilst touching on serious subjects. It is enhanced with vivid sound effects.

Shining Red tells the story of a magic totem, the Shining Red Parrot, and its strength in drawing the main character to its Tongan Fafa Island habitat. Richard, despite a delusional episode, manages to travel to exotic places, indirectly inspiring two other characters within the story.

Ayant fui Téhéran pour échapper à la Révolution Islamique de 1979, Hashang, Roza et leurs trois enfants tentent de reconstruire leur vie dans le petit village de Razan, au cœur de la région montagneuse de Mazandaran. Mais personne n'échappe longtemps à la violence et au chaos... et la répression finira fatalement par les rattraper.

Two extraordinary women in 1865 establish a trading post in a southern jungle that grows to be a safe haven for cast-off women and the dispossessed. When a murderous forger sets up shop and the mayor on the right-side-of-the-tracks becomes intent on their destruction, the village fights for survival in its own special way. Told in evocative magical realism, Jaguar Paloma and the Caketown Bar is a tale of wronged women who stand up to be counted.

When Yusuf fled Syria, he lost everything. Now the circus, with its middle-eastern flair, is the only home he knows. When the lights go on, the refugees dazzle their audience, but off-stage tensions flare. Ellie is passionate about the circus and drawn to its broken people. Even so, if she wants to keep her job at the newspaper, she must head up a campaign against it.

Who was Tesla? What made Tesla so special? Why don't we study Tesla in schools? Have scientists ever measured the frequencies that the neurons in the brain can detect? Listen to find out more.

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to live out your life in someone else's shoes? To experience what they feel, see and believe as if you were them? Strange events take hold of Sophia and she discovers herself transported to another world in which she finds herself caught up in supernatural events which can be shattering and horrifying, yet often emotional and moving too.

Große Künstler wie Michael Jackson, Marilyn Monroe und viele mehr haben zu früh und unter tragischen Umständen das Zeitliche gesegnet - so steht es jedenfalls in den Geschichtsbüchern. Die Wahrheit sieht jedoch ganz anders aus: die totgeglaubten Superstars leben nun auf einer paradiesischen Insel weit weg von Fans und Paparazzi. Umsorgt werden sie dort von ihrem treuen Butler Adschei, der das Geheimnis der Insel und ihrer berühmten Bewohner seit Jahren wahrt. Doch eines Tages droht alles ans Licht zu kommen...

A family gift of reading the spirits in flames has taken everything from her, but can it give her everything she needs? In The Stars Will Guide Us Back, 13 short stories encapsulating the elements of speculative fiction and magical realism travel the themes of mental health, loss, mortality, self-confidence, and finding hope through difficult circumstances. Explore the immersive worlds within, along with a range of peculiar, distinct, and queer characters.

In Kentucky, back in 1933, Carol's daddy lost his 13-year-old daughter in a game of cards. Award-winning author Simon Van Booy's spellbinding novel spans decades as he tells the story of Carol and the people in her life. Incidents intersect and lives unexpectedly change course in this masterfully interwoven story of chance and choice that leads home again to a night blessed with light.